I am amazed at the variety of experiences I’ve had touring colleges. The first thing I learned was that visiting a college in person is a totally different ball game than browsing a college’s website.

For example, I thought UC Santa Cruz was right on the ocean! It turns out that Santa Cruz is called the “City Upon the Hill” by its neighbors because it sits, literally, atop a hill overlooking the gorgeous bay and is surrounded on all sides by national parks.

When you leave for college you are filled with hopes, dreams, and expectations.

Sometimes those expectations are met. However, sometimes you feel like your experiences are falling a bit short.

Whether it’s due to a problematic roommate (or two), or the academic environment or even just the size of the school, there comes a point where you may start to wonder whether you are at the right school.

As a senior in high school who is in the middle of college application season, I know firsthand how important it is to be systematic.

Being organized is one of the keys to being successful mainly because it saves time and causes less confusion. High school and college students sometimes underestimate how overwhelming messes can become.

Why should you seek out community service or volunteer opportunities in addition to your high school or college coursework?

The concept of service is that it should be performed primarily for altruistic reasons. Pursuing community service or volunteer opportunities throughout your educational career demonstrates the type of person that you are.

Perhaps the biggest concern of college students besides maintaining good grades is money. We’re all broke!

Well, not all of us, but most of us are. We have phones to pay for, food to buy and shopping to do, and there doesn’t ever seem to be enough money for it. Even when we do have enough money, it seems to disappear as soon as we get it. Saving is the last thing on our minds for many of us as college students.

Being on your own for the first time gives you freedom to eat what you want, when you want. That fifteen pounds did not come just from hours spent studying in the library. It also comes from eating unhealthy cafeteria food and one too many sugary lattes from the campus coffee shop.

Eating healthy and exercising will help you keep a good attitude, feel better and enjoy your freshman year.